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Some ticketing rules changes are in store for Metro-North this week as well as a fare increase, at least for some passengers. Effective December 30th, New York riders on Metro-North will see up to 11% fare hikes. But those price increases will not affect Connecticut passengers though ticket rules changes will.

But the CT Rail Commuter Council reminds all Metro-North riders they can beat the fare hike and avoid all the rules changes if they purchase tickets before Thursday December 30th 2010.

As of that date, riders in both states will see new ticketing rules including:
§ The validity period for all one-way and round-trip tickets will be reduced from six months to 14 days (including date of purchase).

§ Ten-trip tickets validity will be reduced from one year to six months (including date of purchase).

§ One-way and round-trip tickets will be refundable for 30 days after date of purchase, reduced from the existing six months refund period.

§ Ten-trip tickets will be refundable for 30 days after date of purchase, reduced from the existing one-year refund period.

§ But refunding any tickets will now come with a $10 fee per transaction.

“These changes are going to confuse a lot of commuters and casual riders alike,” says Jim Cameron, Chairman of the CT Rail Commuter Council. “Aside from raising revenue for the MTA, they make no sense and will only discourage use of mass transit.”

“But all riders should know that if they want to ‘lock in’ tickets under the old, more generous time limits they can do so, but only if those tickets are dated before December 30, 2010. This is perfectly legal and happens every time there’s a fare change,” notes Cameron.

“The CT Rail Commuter Council is very concerned that faster-expiring multi-trip tickets will force many riders to instead buy single-trip tickets each time they travel. That will mean longer lines at ticket machines and possible delays, so passengers should plan ahead,” notes Cameron.

For more information on the new fares and ticket rules, visit the MTA website.

Created by the Connecticut legislature, the CT Rail Commuter Council’s members are Metro-North or Shore Line East commuters who serve without compensation as advocates of their fellow riders’ interests. The CT Rail Commuter Council meets monthly with Metro-North and Connecticut Dept of Transportation and testifies before state and regional boards and commissions in favor of affordable, reliable rail service in the state. The CT Rail Commuter Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary of service to commuters.

More information is available at the Council’s website

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Connecticut Seniors Show Solid Overall Performance in First State-Level High School NAEP, but Mathematics and Gaps Still a Concern

Results from the first ever, state-level administration of the Grade 12 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that Connecticut’s students score above the nation in both reading and mathematics.

Eleven states including Connecticut that participated in the first administration of Grade 12 State NAEP in 2009. These eleven states have access to state-level results for the graduating class of 2009.

NAEP, a program of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest nationally representative assessment of what American students know and are able to do in a variety of subjects. The results from NAEP, often called “The Nation’s Report Card,” report the educational progress of students across the nation. While state-level results for 4th and 8th graders have been reported since 1990, only national data have been available to measure the progress of our nation’s 12th graders. The 2009 administration of Grade 12 NAEP marks an important milestone in the evolution of the NAEP program: States were invited to participate in the first Grade 12 state-level assessment on a voluntary basis.

Mathematics

Approximately 2800 students in 100 schools were administered the NAEP mathematics assessment. The administration of the assessment including background questions required about 90 minutes of testing time for every student. 1NSLP is the National School Lunch Program. This reporting group is also referred to as “economically disadvantaged.” Results of the mathematics assessment show that the average scale score of Connecticut students overall (156) is higher than that of students across the nation (152).

Students in three states (MA, NH, and SD) earned higher average scale scores than Connecticut’s Grade 12 students. Connecticut’s seniors performed as well as or better than 12th graders in seven of the ten other participating states.

The average scale score for male students in Connecticut was 157. This score is statistically not different than the average scale score for females (156). While the performance of Connecticut’s male students was not different than that of their peers nationally (154), female students in Connecticut outperformed females at the national level (151).

Eligibility for the National School Lunch program is used commonly in education as a measure of poverty. While these are the best data available to determine whether a student is “economically disadvantaged,” it is widely known that the accuracy of these data for high school seniors may be questionable. Therefore, performance data for students identified as eligible for free or reduced price lunch should be interpreted with caution. While the difference in performance of Connecticut’s economically disadvantaged students compared to their peers nationally is not statistically significant, Connecticut’s economically disadvantaged students score well below the average of students in Connecticut who are not eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

In mathematics, Connecticut’s students identified as Asian/Pacific Islander earned an average scale score of 173. This performance is better than the performance of white (165), black (131), and Hispanic (132) students in Connecticut.

How Connecticut’s racial/ethnic groups performed compared with their national counterparts in Math:

• The average scale score for white students in Connecticut was higher than the average scale score for white students at the national level.
• The performance of all other race/ethnicity groups in Connecticut was not significantly different than the average scale score of the same national public student groups.

Gaps Persist

The performance gap between white and black students in Connecticut is 33 points and the performance gap at the national level between the same two student groups is 29 points. The difference in performance gaps is not statistically significant. However, the performance gap between white and Hispanic students in Connecticut (32 points) is larger than the performance gap at the national level (23 points).

Reading

Like the mathematics assessment, approximately 2800 students in 100 schools were administered the NAEP reading assessment. The administration of the NAEP reading test included a series of background questions for students. All participants were tested for about 90 minutes.

Results of the reading assessment show that the average scale score of Connecticut students overall (292) is higher than that of students across the nation (287). Connecticut’s Grade 12 students earned an average scale score that was not different than the average scale score in 7 of the ten other states. No state earned an average scale score that was significantly higher than Connecticut’s score of 292. This pattern of performance is consistent with the results of the NAEP 2009 Grade 8 reading assessment.

The average scale score for female students in Connecticut was 300. This score is statistically higher than the average scale score for males (285). Male and female students in Connecticut outperformed the national average for their respective student groups.

As explained previously, eligibility for the National School Lunch program is a commonly used indicator of poverty although it can be problematic at Grade 12. All performance data for students identified as eligible for free or reduced price lunch should be interpreted with caution. While the difference in performance of Connecticut’s economically disadvantaged students compared to their peers nationally is not statistically significant, Connecticut’s economically disadvantaged students score well below the average of their peers in Connecticut who are not eligible for free or reduced price lunch, a confirming reminder of the impact of wealth on the state’s historic achievement gap. In reading, the average scale score of Connecticut’s white students (301) was not significantly different than students identified as Asian/Pacific Islander (296).

How Connecticut’s racial/ethnic groups performed compared with their national counterparts in Reading:

• The performance of white students in Connecticut was better than white students at the national level (295).
• The performance of Connecticut’s black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific Islander students was not significantly different when compared to the same student groups at the national level.

The performance gap between white and black students in Connecticut is 36 points and the performance gap at the national level between the same two student groups is 27 points. This 9-point difference in performance gaps is statistically significant. However, the performance gap between white and Hispanic students in Connecticut (27 points) is not significantly different than the performance gap at the national level (22 points).

Further examination of the background information collected from the representative sample of students who took the NAEP reading assessment show a strong positive relationship between the frequency of students reading for enjoyment and NAEP performance. Unfortunately, the NAEP data do not provide answers to why more students are not reading for pleasure. Certainly, we have evidence that our teenagers are busy and we know there are many competing leisure activities in their lives. But we also know that students who are not confident, independent readers will not select reading as their activity of choice when there is free time.

How to close the gaps – Report of the State Commission on Educational Achievement

The Condition of Education in Connecticut, the Connecticut State Department of Education’s yearly status report on public education in the state.

More Connecticut NAEP data.

Released NAEP items, sample student responses, and performance data.

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Following is commentary by Greg Anrig, vice president for policy and programs at The Century Foundation and author of “The Conservatives Have No Clothes: Why Right-Wing Ideas Keep Failing” (John Wiley & Sons, September 2007).

In the waning weeks of 2010, a variety of commissions and institutions issued reports proposing recommendations for reducing the federal government’s future deficits. The plan developed by The Century Foundation, the Economic Policy Institute, and Demos includes major new public investments to revitalize the economy while also, over time, stabilizing the federal debt as a share of the economy without imposing major reductions in vital social insurance programs. But while most of the other blueprints also include some sensible ideas, a lot of terrible proposals were also put forward. Here are the six worst deficit-reduction recommendations, most of which appear in the blueprint developed by the National Commission on the Federal Debt, which was co-chaired by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson:

1. Start cutting the deficit in 2012. The Bowles-Simpson plan, as well as the blueprint put forward by another commission co-chaired by Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici, would begin to reduce net federal spending by 2012. Most economic forecasts show that the unemployment rate is still likely to exceed 8 percent in that year. If the federal government were to downshift into an austerity mode so soon, that could threaten the recovery and produce a double-dip recession. That’s exactly what happened in 1937, when government spending reductions greatly prolonged and exacerbated the Great Depression.

2. Reduce the federal workforce and freeze their salaries for three years. The debt commission’s report entails huge reductions in staff across all federal agencies while also cutting the use of government contractors and ending pay raises. At the same time, it calls for improvements in government productivity. But such changes would clearly erode the quality of the federal workforce, making it less rather than more productive.

3. Cap Medicaid spending. The Bowles-Simpson proposal includes a variety of cuts to Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans, even as Medicaid is about to become one of the main vehicles for extending coverage more broadly under the new health care legislation. Under the health care bill, which greatly expands eligibility for Medicaid, enrollment is projected to increase from about 60 million a year to 80 million. Yet the commission proposes cutting the money available to states to administer Medicaid, even as the program will be facing those heightened administrative demands. And it would reduce the program’s already low payments to health care providers, which will discourage doctors from accepting Medicaid patients, while requiring beneficiaries to pay even more out of pocket than they already do.

4. Limit federal revenues. The Bowles-Simpson plan would impose a ceiling of 21 percent of GDP on the amount of federal revenues that could be collected in a year. In light of the aging of the population and the likelihood that health care costs would continue to rise rapidly, such a cap over time would be likely to lead to severe erosion in government services. Already, the United States is near the bottom among industrialized countries in the amount of revenue it collects. Moreover, why 21 percent and not some other arbitrary figure? And why should today’s Congress be able to bind the actions of the government in the future, when conditions will be very different than they are now?

5. Raise the Social Security retirement age. Under the Bowles-Simpson plan, the age at which workers would be eligible for full retirement benefits, which is already scheduled to rise to 67, would be increased to 68 by 2050 and 69 by around 2075. The age at which any Social Security retirement benefits could first be collected would rise from 62 today to 63 by 2050 and 64 by 2075. The rationale for these changes is that average life spans are getting longer. But longevity increases are highly concentrated among wealthier Americans and haven’t increased significantly for low- and middle-income individuals. Moreover, the effect of the retirement age delays would be to cut Social Security benefits across the board for everyone, regardless of when they retire or what their earnings levels are. Social Security benefits are already quite modest by international standards, and such adjustments would dilute them further for future generations.

6. Put a lid on health care cost growth. The National Debt Commission stipulates that beginning in 2020, all federal health care spending combined should not exceed the rate of growth of GDP plus one percentage point. In and of itself, that proposal is entirely responsible for the commission’s forecasts of significantly declining debt-to-GDP ratios in the next decade. But because health care costs have been consistently rising at a rate of 2.5 percentage points faster than GDP for decades, for the private sector as well as government, there’s little basis for believing that they will decline to the level stipulated in the blueprint. If such a ceiling were actually to be enforced by the government, the upshot would be to shift the excess cost burden onto individuals and the private sector. Reining in health care costs is central to restoring the government’s fiscal health, but policies that directly attack the sources of wastefulness in our system are the only route to achieving that goal. Arbitrary limits won’t accomplish anything constructive in and of themselves. See the discussion of health care costs in the Century Foundation-Economic Policy Institute-Demos blueprint for a much more serious approach building on the new health care legislation.

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Joe Lieberman’s speech at the Republican National Convention:

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1. Overturned Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. 

This was the right thing to do for our military, and it was the right thing to do for our country. No longer will thousands of patriotic Americans in uniform be forced to live a lie or leave the military because of their sexual orientation. We are a nation that believes all men and women are created equal. That principle of equality is now enshrined in law.

President Barack Obama signs the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 during a ceremony at the Interior Department in Washington, D.C., Dec. 22, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

2. Got the New START Treaty Through

The most significant arms control agreement in nearly two decades was passed in a bipartisan fashion. In doing so, we’ve strengthened American leadership on non-proliferation issues, reinforced our relationship with a vital ally, and made our country safer.

President Barack Obama shares a toast in the Oval Office with the members of his National Security Staff who worked on the New START nuclear arms control agreement, Dec. 22, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

 

3. Signed Extension of Middle-Class Tax Cuts & Unemployment Insurance 

The package will spur jobs, businesses, and growth. While I was not happy with the tax give-aways to the rich that were part of this package, this is a good deal for the American people and the American economy. And economists across the political spectrum agree.

President Barack Obama, joined by Republican and Democratic members of Congress, signs the middle-class tax cuts bill in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

December 17, 2010.

(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

4. A New a Bipartisan Food Safety Bill

It constitutes the biggest upgrade of America’s food safety laws since the Great Depression.

WHAT THE NEW LAW DOES
The law improves the federal government’s capacity to prevent food safety problems by requiring food producers to develop a food safety plan and ensure the plan is working. It also improves the FDA’s capacity to detect and respond to food-borne illness outbreaks by increasing the number of FDA inspections at all food facilities and enhancing both food-borne illness surveillance systems and the tracking and tracing of high-risk foods.

Among some of the FDA’s new powers will be:

-Mandatory Recall. Allows FDA to initiate a mandatory recall of a food product when a company fails to voluntarily recall the contaminated product upon FDA’s request.

- Suspension of Registration. Allows FDA to suspend a food facility’s registration if there is a reasonable probability that food from the facility will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

Other new provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act are:

- Enhancement of U.S. food defense capabilities. Directs FDA to help food companies protect their products from intentional contamination, and calls for a national strategy to protect our food supply from terrorist threats and rapidly respond to food emergencies.

- Increased FDA resources. Authorizes increased funding for FDA’s food safety activities, such as hiring personnel, and includes targeted non-compliance fees for domestic and foreign facilities.

- Regulatory flexibility. Modernizes our food safety system without being burdensome. Provides training for facilities to comply with the new safety requirements and includes special accommodations for small businesses and farms. Exempts small businesses from certain aspects of the produce standards and preventive control requirements

5. Finally Got the 9/11 Health Bill Through

It will help cover the health care costs of the first responders who rushed to the World Trade Center to help, and inhaled toxic air as a result.

President Barack Obama holds a press conference in the South Court Auditorium, Dec. 22, 2010, (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

While we’ve made significant achievements, it’s true that we didn’t get everything done. I’m disappointed that Congress wasn’t able to pass the DREAM Act or come together around a budget to fund our government over the long run.

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I started the blog on which these reports are based largely to motivate myself to keep informed and to adapt healthier ways of life. Due to the fact that I was somewhat overweight, and that my father and grandfather had both died at the age of 65, I felt extra precautions were necessary. Ironically, none of the health measures I adopted protected me from my own major health crisis at the age of 65, although I have survived and a full recovery is expected. But as a result of this health crisis, I have fallen off the wagon on many of my health practices, some out of necessity, some out of an understandable need, or at least, desire, for self-indulgence, and some out of sheer indifference.

But now I’m ready to try to resume as much as I can of healthy behaviors. Ironically as well, one of my principal motivations, weight, is no longer much of an issue, because as a result of the health crisis I have lost over 30 pounds, at least temporarily. I hope I’ve faced this crisis with the right attitude – because if I have, apparently I can live to 100.

Here’s my report on one month’s worth of new health research (but see last note):

1. I have to start taking Vitamin D again, (despite the inconclusive report e. below) and within the limits of my slow recovery, get more exercise, although I probably still won’t be lifting weights, although I should:

a. “Exercise and Vitamin D supplements are the best ways to reduce the risk of falling in people aged 65 and over.”

b. “A one-year follow-up study on seniors who participated in a strength training exercise program shows sustained cognitive benefits as well as savings for the healthcare system.”

c. “Impairments to health and physical performance are not primarily a result of aging but of unfavorable lifestyle habits and lack of exercise. Sporty elderly people have a life expectancy that is almost 4 years higher and are often faster than younger athletes.”

d. “New research from Tel Aviv University has found that “endurance exercises,” like a Central Park jog or a spinning class, can make us look younger. The key, exercise, unlocks the stem cells of our muscles.”

e. “A large amount of evidence reviewed by the committee that wrote the report confirms the roles of calcium and vitamin D in promoting skeletal growth and maintenance and the amounts needed to avoid poor bone health. The committee also reviewed hundreds of studies and reports on other possible health effects of vitamin D, such as protection against cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes. While these studies point to possibilities that warrant further investigation, they have yielded conflicting and mixed results and do not offer the evidence needed to confirm that vitamin D has these effects.”

f. “Walking may slow cognitive decline in adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as in healthy adults.”

2. One thing I have kept up, and am very happy I have, is my statin intake:

“Statin therapy is associated with reduced postoperative mortality. Preoperative uses of statins have demonstrated major cardiac and non-cardiac protective effects, including in this study. “

3. I have to be more careful about what I eat again ( although my wife still doesn’t let me eat garlic):

a. Fats vs. Carbs: Debate Continues on the Sources of America’s Dietary Ills

b. “Eating a Southern staple, fried fish, could be one reason people in Alabama and across the “stroke belt” states are more likely than other Americans to die of a stroke.”

c. “A new study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that those with healthy diets really do to live longer and feel better…Older adults who follow current dietary guidelines to consume relatively high amounts of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, poultry and fish are more likely to have better nutritional status, higher quality of life and better survival than those who do not follow these guidelines.”

d. High Dietary Fat, Cholesterol Linked to Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer

e. Garlic, onions and leeks, protect against hip osteoarthritis

4. I’m not ready to drink three glasses of milk a day or drink beetroot juice ( I almost threw up last time I tried it) but I do plan to eat more beets:

a. “Drinking three glasses of milk per day may lead to an 18% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.”

b. “New research into the health benefits of beetroot juice suggests it’s not only athletes who can benefit from its performance enhancing properties – its physiological effects could help the elderly .. enjoy more active lives. Beetroot juice has been one of the biggest stories in sports science over the past year after researchers …found it enables people to exercise for up to 16% longer. The startling results have led to a host of athletes – from Premiership footballers to professional cyclists – looking into its potential uses.”

5. I don’t take echinea, nor do I plan to, but if I did this report would not stop me:

Echinea may reduce common-cold duration by only half a day

6. No more overripe bananas or grapes? I’ll miss them! This link is well worth reading:

” With a diet that is high in proteins with more lean meat, low-fat dairy products and beans and fewer finely refined starch calories such as white bread and white rice, most people can eat until they are full without counting calories and without gaining weight.” But there are some provisos –

Some types of fruit may be consumed ad libitum, (freely) such as apples, pears, oranges, raspberries and strawberries. Other types should be eaten in only very limited amounts, including bananas (especially overripe bananas), grapes, kiwi, pineapple and melon. Nearly all vegetables are permitted, with the exception of corn, which should be limited. Carrots, beets and parsnip should preferably be eaten raw.

With regard to cereal-based foods (bread, grain, corn, hulled grains and breakfast products), the goal is to eat as many coarse and wholegrain foods as possible, i.e. wholegrain breads with many kernels, wholegrain pasta, whole oats and the special varieties of wholegrain cornflakes

Potatoes should be cooked as little as possible. Try to stick to new potatoes, and it is a good idea to eat them cold. Avoid mashed potatoes and baked potatoes.

Pasta should be cooked al dente and is best eaten cold.

I’ll certainly be eating my parsnips raw from now on!

7. I’m going to resume drinking lots of green tea despite one inconclusive report. One of my readers has suggested frozen blueberries out of season – I need to check into that:

a. “Tea has long been regarded as an aid to good health, and many believe it can help reduce the risk of cancer. Most studies of tea and cancer prevention have focused on green tea. Although tea and/or tea polyphenols have been found in animal studies to inhibit tumorigenesis at different organ sites, including the skin, lung, oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, pancreas, and mammary gland, the results of human studies—both epidemiologic and clinical studies—have been inconclusive.”

b. “Eating purple fruits such as blueberries and drinking green tea can help ward off diseases including Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.”

8. I won’t resume drinking cranberry juice:

“Drinking cranberry juice has been recommended to decrease the incidence of urinary tract infections, based on observational studies and a few small clinical trials. However, a new study published in the January 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, and now available online, suggests otherwise.”

9. I’m going to try to check ingredient lists for amounts of sugar and high fructose corn syrup:

“Science shows us there is a potentially negative impact of excessive amounts of sugar and high fructose corn syrup on cardiovascular and kidney health.”

10. I need to check with my doctor before I can resume taking aspirin:

a. “A daily low dose of aspirin significantly reduces the number of deaths from a whole range of common cancers, an Oxford University study has found.”

b. How Aspirin Works To Prevent Heart Attacks

11. I have started drinking red wine again, but not yet daily:

a. “A fascinating study shows that although the French drink more than the Northern Irish each week, as they drink daily, rather than more on less occasions, the French suffered from considerably less coronary heart disease than the Northern Irish.”

b. Moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of metabolic diseases

12. I need to start eating more fish and taking fish oil again:

Omega-3s in fish, seafood may protect seniors’ eyes

Tell me this isn’t depressing news:

In an effort to pinpoint potential triggers leading to inflammatory responses that eventually contribute to depression, researchers are taking a close look at the immune system of people living in today’s cleaner modern society.

Rates of depression in younger people have steadily grown to outnumber rates of depression in the older populations and researchers think it may be because of a loss of healthy bacteria.

In an article published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, Emory neuroscientist Charles Raison, MD, and colleagues say there is mounting evidence that disruptions in ancient relationships with microorganisms in soil, food and the gut may contribute to the increasing rates of depression.

According to the authors, the modern world has become so clean, we are deprived of the bacteria our immune systems came to rely on over long ages to keep inflammation at bay.

Have you noticed that some reputed health benefits do not stand up after additional scrutiny?

This disturbing report in the New Yorker may explain the reason:

The test of replicability, as it’s known, is the foundation of modern research. It’s a safeguard for the creep of subjectivity. But now all sorts of well-established, multiply confirmed findings have started to look increasingly uncertain. It’s as if our facts are losing their truth…

The disturbing implication of this study is that a lot of extraordinary scientific data is nothing but noise. This suggests that the decline effect is actually a decline of illusion…The decline effect is troubling because it reminds us how difficult it is to prove anything

So take everything I say here, and I’m only reporting on current research, with a grain of salt (but no more – salt isn’t good for your blood pressure – or is it?)

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hose crafty creationists just won’t let up. Since they can’t get their way in the courts or state legislatures, their new tactic is to attack the curriculum itself, from science standards to textbooks, forcing teachers to teach science the creationist way.

In Texas, for example, a creo-dominated board of education in 2009 successfully shoehorned creationist language into the life and earth sciences standards. “Having students ‘analyze and evaluate all sides of scientific evidence’ is code that gives creationists a green light to attack biology textbooks,” said Josh Rosenau, Source: National Center for Science EducationPrograms and Policy Director.

But the board didn’t stop there. In March of 2010, the board turned on Texas social studies standards, booting Thurgood Marshall out of the history books and inserting Phyllis Schlafly. “We are adding balance,” said board chairman Dr. Don McLeroy.

Echoing language from the evolution vs. creationism wars, South Dakota passed a resolution encouraging teachers to present “a balanced and objective” view of global warming.

In Louisiana, creationists waving the banner of the 2008 Science Education Act almost derailed the adoption of nearly two dozen high school biology textbooks that, in the words of one creationist, “devoted too much time to evolutionary theory and none to intelligent design”.
In short, it was a busy year.

Here’s the National Center for Science Education’s list of the ten hottest evolution stories of the year:

1. Louisiana biology textbooks under siege
Attacks orchestrated by The Louisiana Family Forum nearly upended the adoption of biology textbooks that (gasp) didn’t talk about intelligent design. But the textbook subcommittee and the full board of education overwhelmingly approved the books.

2. Gov backs Kentucky creationism theme park
A theme park complete with a replica of Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel? A park backed by state funds? Believe it.

3. Teacher makes an impression
John Freshwater, an Ohio middle school science teacher, was accused of displaying Biblical posters, branding crosses on the arms of his students, and teaching creationism. One family sued; the school district is out $475,000; Freshwater may soon be out of a job.

4. Don McLeroy booted off Texas board of education
During his heyday as board chairman, McLeroy (an avowed creationist) made news during a hearing by crying out “Somebody’s got to stand up to experts!”. The voters thought otherwise and McLeroy lost his re-election bid.

5. UC vs. Christian high schools
The University of California refused to give credits for high school biology classes that relied on creationist textbooks such as Biology: God’s Living Creation. Several Christian schools sued, but the Supreme Court let stand a ruling supporting UC’s policies.

6. Anti-evolution bills DOA
Anti-evolution bills were proposed in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Mississippi. The Kentucky bill was typical, “help[ing] students understand, analyze, critique, and review scientific theories in an objective manner, including but not limited to the study of evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.” All died in committee.

7. We don’t need no stinkin’ accreditation!
The Institute for Creation Research wanted to offer Masters of Science Education degrees without getting the Texas Higher Education board’s certification. The board said no and the ICR sued and lost. Said the exasperated judge: “[ICR] is entirely unable to file a complaint which is not overly verbose, disjointed, incoherent, maundering, and full of irrelevant information”

8. Forward an email, lose your job.
Chris Comer, Director of Science at the Texas Education Agency, was fired in 2007 for forwarding an email announcing a public lecture by NCSE Board member Barbara Forrest. Comer sued, lost, appealed, and in 2010, had her appeal denied.

9. Top Doc Nabs Fab Sci Prize
The National Academy of Sciences awarded Dr. Eugenie C. Scott the Public Welfare Medal for her “extraordinary use of science for the public good”. She joins an elite club that includes Carl Sagan, C. Everett Koop, David Packard, and Vannevar Bush.

10. Friends of Darwin Announced
NCSE’s “Friend of Darwin” award was bestowed on three Texas educators who stood tall for science education: Dr. David Hillis (UT), Dr. Gerald Skoog (Texas Tech), and Dr. Ronald Wetherington (Southern Methodist).

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Political Winners and Losers from 2010 Census Not as Obvious as Some Claim

Donald Beachler, the coauthor of “Winning the White House, 2008,” says that Republican success in the 2010 midterm elections may actually blunt GOP prospects for further Congressional pickups in 2012.

Because of Republican gains last November, they now hold many districts in Pennsylvania and Ohio — which stand to lose three seats between them.

On the flip side, says Beachler, some of the states that will gain seats are doing so because of their increasing Latino population, which is good news for Democrats. “In states like Texas and Arizona, the Voting Rights Act will require the creation of some Latino majority seats as part of redistricting. These districts will likely elect Democrats.”

New York joins Ohio in losing two House seats to reapportionment, dropping the Empire State’s current 29-member Congressional delegation to 27, the lowest number since 1823. While final census data is not yet out on individual counties, population growth has been greater downstate and the political influence of upstate New York will be further reduced as a result.